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Talkback: Squirrels, foxes and snow

Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
in Talkback
sadly i have found 6 dead grey squirrels in the last 10 days or so...i have checked them and none of them had cuts etc on them....
why???
i saw the first 4 in about 5 days while walking my dog....within a mile of,and the 1 in my back garden and the other 1 out the front of my garden,,,again i checked them for cuts etc [none had them[.
also my sister had a dead grey squirrel on her drive last sunday.she thinks it was a young 1 as it was rather small.

Posts

  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    My grey squirrel chased away the birds to eat their seed and crumbs and the fox's footprints led right to my back door. Snow gone now so went out to see what had fared best plantwise and it was my golden feverfew. Its lime green was so cheering and the red pyracantha berries have survived and thawed out so there are still some for the birds, probably much sweeter now if they do the same as the grapes and grow sweeter after the frost. It would be interesting to hear what has fared best in this early winter in other bloggers' gardens.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    The snow brought us redwings and gold finches who feasted on holly berries and teasel. We also have regular visits from three foxes which are from this years litter.They "pole valt into our garden despite neighbours putting up 6' fences. One in paticular has taken to arriving(despite an injured paw)at about noon and sittingon my garden table on the patio and staring into the living room through the patio doors.
    When all else fails he comes up to the glass and scrapes ii with his paw to getmy attention. When I finally relent, he feasts on ox liver,dog food, lamb bones....etc. Then as a thank you they run away with my old net curtains that I use to protect my plants!But occasionally they bring me the odd boot, glove,trainer and flipflop!
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I hate the thought of urban foxes proliferating and wish people wouldn't feed them. Oh, i know we've taken over their habitat, etc, but they can be very nasty (witness the attack on babies last year). I worry about my cats - I can just hear the cat-haters getting started and yes, I wish they wouldn't poo in your garden too - as one day a fox chased my Burmese and I don't think it wanted to play with her. I wonder what others think: do you know of any cats that were killed/injured by foxes, and how can we humanely get rid of them? My local council refuses to address the issue.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Foxes don't like the smell of urine. A farmer friend of ours used to hang old sacks on the fences and encourage her menfolk to pee on them. That kept the foxes away!!
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I do not have foxes which my chickens are pleased about and my neighbours shoot the squirrels which I am also pleased about. The squirrels were stealing eggs as well as taking all five hazel nuts off my new hazel bush.
    Foxes got all of a friends hens and just bit off their legs and left them to die. The ones that did not die of fright had to have their necks wrung.
    We are lucky not to get them but they do not seem to like the countryside now . I expect it is the high cost of rural transport that has driven them in to the suburbs.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    I built a table-like shelter for our birds and squirrels to eat benieth, as every day the peanuts would be covered by snow. I simply used 4 breeze blocks and a sheet of plywood and it's worked very well. The squirrels here are cheeky and hungry and will fight thier corner with the pigeons to get the most peanuts.
    The visiting fox also eats the peanuts, but only seems to come at night ..... I have been able to see his tracks round and round the table and then out to the corner of the garden. Our resident rat comes to feed too and sometimes gets into disputes with the squirrels.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    Glad I do not live near Sarah. Don't you realise that rats are vermin? Our landlords brother, an (ex) carpet fitter died of wiels disease after handling carpet that rats had urinated on. Nasty way to go. He was only quite young too.
  • Gardeners' World Web UserGardeners' World Web User Posts: 17,147
    A beautifully written post! Up here on our snowy allotment in Yorkshire, all the rabbits seem to be hiding. Our dog is still busy wtih gardening tasks, though, and has been digging up and eating frozen turnips. Read the story on: http://www.mandysutter.com/reluctant-gardener-day-140-a-turnip-for-the-books/
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